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Food Stamp Cuts Emerge as Lawmakers Craft New Farm Bill

By Beacon Staff

A new Farm Bill is taking shape that could slash food stamps for the poor while providing government resources for farmers, ranchers and rural communities hit hard by historic drought conditions and recurring wildfires.

Efforts to pass a Farm Bill — a bundle of legislation required every five years that guides the nation’s agriculture and food policies — have restarted with Senate and House committees crafting their own sweeping legislation. Both bills promise overhauls that would save billions and reduce or consolidate hundreds of federal programs. But they also remain highly contentious, demonstrated by the recent scuffle over proposed food stamp reductions.

Lawmakers cited Bible passages and debated whether theology justifies governmental food aid for nine hours last week. The heated session concluded when the House Agriculture Committee approved a five-year farm bill on May 16 that would cut roughly $2.5 billion a year, or 3 percent, from the food stamp program.

The Senate approved a much smaller reduction in its bill, roughly $400 million a year, from the $80 billion program.

The House cuts would eliminate food stamps for roughly 2 million Americans, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research organization based in Washington D.C.

Republicans have been increasingly critical of the food stamp program since costs have more than doubled since 2008. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program administers food aid to more than 47 million Americans, a number that spiked during the Great Recession.

In Montana, roughly 123,000 people, or one in eight residents, received monthly food stamps in June 2012, according to the latest information from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Flathead County was home to the third most recipients, with roughly 12,000. Yellowstone County had the largest number, 17,000, followed by Missoula County at 15,000. Roughly 5,000 residents in Glacier County received food stamps and 3,200 in Lincoln County.

An average Montana recipient receives $128 in food stamps per month, according to the DPHHS.

Among those Americans participating in SNAP, 72 percent are families with children and 25 percent are in families with elderly or disabled members, according to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

“I’m a Christian and this chapter talks about how you treat the least among us,” Representative Juan C. Vargas, D-Calif., told House committee members, quoting the Bible’s 25th chapter of the Book of Matthew in opposition to reducing support for the poor.

But other House members countered that individuals or churches should provide that aid instead of the government, and that the cuts were necessary spending reductions. Republicans said the cuts would be small relative to the size of the program and would not stop people from qualifying for the aid; rather people wouldn’t be automatically enrolled for food stamps in certain circumstances.

An amendment from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., to do away with the food stamp cuts failed by a 27-17 vote.

The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its own version of the Farm Bill on May 15. The Senate’s version includes provisions that Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester spearheaded, including disaster assistance for ranchers who’ve lost livestock or grazing land, assistance for veterans seeking employment through farming and increased suppression of insect and disease epidemics, like bark beetle, on public lands.

“Montana ranchers work hard every day to support jobs across our state and put food on tables across the country, and we can’t turn our backs on them during the worst drought in more than 50 years,” Baucus said in a statement.

Baucus’ bills included compensation for ranchers at a rate of 65 percent market value for livestock mortality caused by disasters and reintroduced animals, such as wolves; assistance for ranchers who graze livestock on qualifying drought- or fire-affected pasture land; and compensation for disaster losses not covered under other programs.

A separate bill added to the Senate legislation would address the bark beetle epidemic, which has killed 6.2 million acres of public land in Montana, the second most of any state. Baucus’ National Forest Insect and Disease Treatment Act would create a program to designate national forest land for expedited treatment. According to Baucus, areas treated through the pilot program would prioritize the preservation of old-growth and large trees, if possible, while still promoting forests that are resistant to insect and disease damage.

Among other policy changes, the House and Senate farm bills would establish farm subsidies and rural programs. Both bills would eliminate $5 billion a year direct payments to farmers and farmland owners who are paid whether they grow crops or not.

The full Senate is expected to take up its bill this week, while the House could address the legislation next month. The current Farm Bill policies, which were extended after Congress failed to bring a vote last year, expires Sept. 30.